SITUATIONS MATTER: Understanding How Context Transforms Your World (Riverhead 2011) by Sam Sommers, like the recent other nonfiction books I’ve read (and who am I kidding? The last novel I read was THE LIFE OF PI, and before that . . .

THE POWER OF HABIT: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business (Random House 2012) by Charles Duhigg is important for people transitioning away from the use of animals as well as people who study social movements.

Hal Herzog’s “Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat” (Harper 2011), though fascinating, is ultimately depressing for vegans and animal rights activists. Over at Animal Rights and AntiOppression, we’ve been discussing tactics and sharing our thoughts and experiences…

When I was asked if I wanted to read Jeff Corwin’s 100 HEARTBEATS (Rodale 2009) I was ambivalent. I know he’s a “conservationist,” therefore I know he will advocate for “managing” the “resources” that are sentient nonhumans. And managing means…

When I agreed to read and review Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson’s THE DOG WHO COULDN’T STOP LOVING (Harper 2010), the regal Charles Hobson Booger, III was still with us. When it arrived, the day after Charles died, I’ll admit to wanting…

HIGH IN THE CLOUDS, by Paul McCartney, Geoff Dunbar and Philip Ardagh is supposed to be for Grades 2-4, but its themes, vocabulary and syntax are more advanced. From Barnes and Noble: “Wirral the Squirrel is homeless. The evil Gretsch…

“Creature Quotes: Advancing Toward Freedom For All Species,” compiled and edited by SBH Clay, is now available. From the Introduction: “Humans are fascinated by animals. . . . For all our devotion, though, we sometimes seem not to recognize the…

First, Chris directed me to ePub Bud, which appears to be a timely and fantastic idea given my recent plea for more books for children about veganism. In addition, it looks like a great way to get your book into…

I realize that in writing about “old speciesism” I failed to define this term that Dunayer uses. I think of “old speciesism” as analogous to racism and sexism in that it is exploitation based on species. The advocacy component of…

I finally read SPECIESISM, by Joan Dunayer, which was published a couple of years after ANIMAL EQUALITY, which I wrote about a couple of weeks ago. This book has so many great quotes that I’m going to have to write…

I went back to New York to the areas where I grew up and went to college and graduate school for a five-day weekend. I’d been longing for NYC and, as usual, thinking about moving back. The Nor’easter cured me…

A handful Animal Person readers since May of 2006, when I started this then-daily blog, have asked me if I’ve read Joan Dunayer. And now that I’ve read Animal Equality and begun Speciesism, I think I know why. My deconstructions…

Deb wrote “Do Food Miles Matter?” after reading “Just Food: Where Locavores Get It Wrong and How We Can Truly Eat Responsibly, by James E. McWilliams last month. Shortly thereafter she visited and brought me the book, and as a…

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A wonderful serenity has taken possession of my entire soul, like these sweet mornings of spring which I enjoy with my whole heart. I am alone, and feel the charm of existence in this spot, which was created for the bliss of souls like mine. I am so happy, my dear friend, so absorbed in the exquisite sense of mere tranquil existence, that I neglect my talents. I should be incapable of drawing a single stroke at the present moment; and yet I feel that I never was a greater artist than now.